Last Year, Apple Shipped A Record 2.5 Million Units In India

Apple, the Cupertino-based iPhone maker, had a great year in India. The smartphone making giant shipped around 2.5 million smartphones last year even as global sales dropped. The global revenues of the tech giant might be declining with a lowered demand for its devices but the iPhone maker has been able to sell 2.5 million units of its flagships smartphones in the country last year.

The tech giant was able to sell 2.5 million units of its flagships smartphones in India, according to a report from Counterpoint research. The Market Monitor report of Counterpoint said that one third of total shipping of the tech giant in India came in the Q4 following the release of the iPhone 7.

In the smartphone rankings in the country, the smartphone maker was able to capture the number 10 position during the fourth quarter of last year. However by managing a 62% share in the smartphone market, the Silicon Valley giant led the segment for premium smartphones.

Further, the report found that the smartphone shipments in the country increased at a good rate of 18% yearly in 2016, in comparison to only 3% globally. The China-based smartphone making companies contributed to 46% of the total smartphone market during the Q4 of last year whereas the Indian smartphone makers were not even in the top five.

The report explained, “While the demonetization had its impact on the local players, it will be unfair to take credit from Chinese players that continue to expand their presence throughout India, riding on aggressive portfolio strategies and substantial marketing spends.”

As for feature phones, they were able to increase 4% year-over-year, with the transition of feature phone to smartphone dropping in the second half of last year. This was because of the strong performance from low cost brands such as iTel.

Analyst suggests a “Made in America” iPhone that costs an extra $100 to $200, here’s why

During the fourth quarter of last year, the mobile smartphone shipments dropped 17% quarter-on-quarter. The report further revealed that 83 million smartphone devices that were shipped in the country were in fact “Made in India,” with around three out of four smartphone devices in the fourth quarter of 2016 manufactured domestically. The report concluded saying that China-based smartphone brands such as Vivo, Oppo, Xiaomi, and Lenovo continued to grow at the expense of Indian brands and Samsung.

In another news, an analyst said $200 surcharge for Made in America iPhone could solve the big issue of the tech giant.

On Thursday, Brian White, global head of technology hardware and software at Drexel Hamilton, said that the steep border tax proposals of the U.S. president will be a net negative for the iPhone maker, even with the repatriation of large overseas cash pile of Apple.

White said, “There will be a lot of pressure to bring some manufacturing back to the U.S.” He added that if he was the tech company, he would bring whatever they need to bring back (through the repatriation) and they could market iPhones made in America and charge a premium.

Nishtha Singh is a iStartup staff reporter who covers tech news, including review of devices, emerging startups, acquisitions, gadgets, Cars, Cloud, EVs, AR, VR, AI and more. Further, she is a reader, a tech-enthusiast, and a writer. Editor at Teenage Publishing and proof-reader at Evoque Publishing.